THE UTM CO-ORDINATE

SYSTEM

The Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) projection is used extensively for survey and
other offshore work. Much DP related navigation will be based on the UTM system, so a
description is given here.

UTM is a grid system based upon Northings and Eastings, in metres. The intention is to
reduce the distortion present in the traditional Mercator projection, based upon Latitude,
Longitude and True North. UTM is, like Mercator, a cylindrical projection, but in UTM the
axis of the cylinder runs along the plane of the equator; the line of contact between the
cylinder and the sphere is thus a meridian and its anti-meridian. Obviously a single cylindrical
projection of this type cannot be used to chart the whole terrestrial surface, and if the
difference in longitude between the contact meridian and the charted area were great, then
distortion would be great also.

The useful scope of the projection consists of a zone 6 degrees of longitude in width, centred
upon the contact meridian, known as the CENTRAL MERIDIAN. Within this zone
distortions are minimal. Zones are numbered from the 180º meridian eastward. Thus zone 1
spans 180º to 174º West, with the Central Meridian on 177º West. The North Sea is mostly
within zone 31 (Greenwich to 6º E, Central Meridian 3ºE).

Within a particular zone, the Northings and Eastings (in metres) are arranged to increase in a
Northward and an Eastward direction, respectively, irrespective of position upon the globe.
For Northings the datum is the equator, with Northern hemisphere Northings having a value
of zero on the equator, and increasing northwards. For the Southern hemisphere, a false
Northing of 10,000,000 is established on the equator, with Northing values decreasing from
this as one moves south. This resolves the problem of requiring positive values increasing
northwards throughout.

Page 6.3
The UTM Co-ordinate System Position Reference Systems Basic Operator Course
Training Manual

For Eastings, a value of zero is found on the Central Meridian, however, this would result in
negative values to the West of the Central Meridian. To overcome this problem a False
Easting value of 500,000 is established on the central meridian, with Easting values increasing
in an easterly direction. This allows the whole zone to be covered by positive Easting values.

24.1
THE U.T.M.
CO-ORDINATE
SYSTEM GRID AND TRUE NORTH
CO-INCIDENT ONLY ON
6717000

GRID
THE CENTRAL MERIDIAN
NORTH

6716000

EASTINGS IN METRES - NORTHINGS IN METRES

INCREASING EASTWARD - THE No OF METRES
CENTRAL
WITH 500,000 ON THE NORTH OF EQUATOR
MERIDIAN 6 DEGREE ZONE
CENTRAL MERIDIAN
THE GLOBE IS DIVIDED 6715000
INTO 60 ZONES

U.T.M. IS A CYLINDRICAL PROJECTION 500,000 501,000 502,000

WITH THE AXIS OF THE CYLINDER IN
THE PLANE OF THE EQUATOR, PASSING
A FALSE NORTHING OF
THROUGH THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH
10,000,000 PLACED
CENTRAL
ON THE EQUATOR
IT IS A LOCAL PROJECTION (NOT MERIDIAN TO GIVE POSITIVE
"UNIVERSAL" AT ALL), WITH MIMIMUM NORTHWARD-INCREASING
DISTORTION WITHIN EACH NORTHINGS IN THE
6 DEGREE WIDE ZONE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
UNITS - NORTHINGS IN METRES INCREASING N
ZONES ARE NUMBERED EASTWARD
EASTINGS IN METRES INCREASING E
FROM THE 180 DEGREE MERIDIAN.
EVERYWHERE
e.g. ZONE 31 EXTENDS FROM GREENWICH
TO 6 DEGREES EAST WITH THE CENTRAL
MERIDIAN ON 3 DEGREES EAST

Because UTM is a grid system there is no convergence of meridians and the map graticule is a
true 90 degree square grid. There is thus a difference in direction between Grid North and
True North, and this difference itself will vary across the area. The difference will be zero on
the Central Meridian. For DP work it is important that this difference is a known value, and
also whether Artemis fixed stations are calibrated to True or Grid bearings. For short range
work, or relative, long range work there is no problem, but if a worksite location is being
established by a DP vessel at a long range from an Artemis reference origin, using Artemis
co-ordinates, then considerable positional error can appear.

It is important to realise that UTM co-ordinates from one zone (i.e. based upon a particular
central meridian) will not in any way match up with co-ordinates for the same location based
upon another central meridian. When planning a task it is necessary to check that all worksite
diagrams and plans supplied are drawn to the same projection and central meridian datum.

Page 6.4 © Kongsberg Simrad AS May 02

Training Rev. 03
Basic Operator Course Position Reference Systems The UTM Co-Ordinate System
Training Manual

333360 m
Northings 6667200 333320 500000 666680 Eastings
N 60o 0o E 3oE 6o E

666720 m
Northings 0 166640 500000 833360 Eastings
N 0o 0o E 3o E 6o E

UTM Zone 31 with central meridian 3O E.

May 02 © Kongsberg Simrad AS Page 6.5

Rev. 03 Training
1.1 LAT/LONG
Any seafarer should be familiar with the lat/long system. However, there may be some
that are not familiar with it, so the instructor should be able to explain the lat/long
system. The easiest way to explain it is to draw the equator line and the 0º meridian on a
circle illustrating the earth, like the figure below:

NP
60°

Greenwich
0-meridian

Equator

At each degree both for latitude and longitude a line may be drawn and the co-ordinate
system is established. The origin for the latitude/longitude system is where the 0-
meridian intersects the equator.

1.2 UTM – Universal Transverse Mercator

The easiest way to explain the UTM system is to compare it with the latitude/longitude
system. The latitude/longitude system is very often well known among the seafarers.
Why they use the UTM system is hard to explain. However, it is a system based upon
meters instead of degrees, minutes and seconds.

In the UTM system the globe is divided into zones as shown on the picture below:
DP Basic Operator Course / Coordinates Lesson 16

Blue = Lat/Long
180° Red = UTM

1
2
3

Equator
NP

London
Zone 31

0°

Each zone covers 6 degrees and there are 60 zones totally (360/6). Each zone has the
same structure, and in this document zone 31 (North Sea) is described:
Central
Grid North True North
Meridian Blue = Lat/Long
Red = UTM
Zone 31
N 6677200m
E 500000m
500000 - 166680 = 333320m 500000 + 166680 = 666680m
500000m
60°N
Distance = 3°*60`*1852m*cos60°
Distance = 166680

Distance = 60°*60`*1852m
Distance = 6667200m

Difference because the

earth is a bullet.

ZONE 31

00°N Zone 31
003° E N 0m
E 500000m

500000m 500000 + 333360 = 833360m

0
0°N
Distance = 3°*60`*1852m
0°E Distance = 333360 3°E 6°E
The description should be in the following sequence:
1. The UTM system is described through a comparison of the latitude/longitude system
and the UTM. Therefor all latitude/longitude information is drawn with a blue colour
while the UTM information is drawn with a red.
2. This description starts on equator and zone 31. Each zone covers 6º and zone 31 is
from 000ºE to 006ºE. The explanation that follows is equal for any of the 60 zones.
3. In the UTM system the central meridian (3º) is called 0m, and not central meridian
or 3ºE.
4. The UTM system does not consist of negative numbers and values, and to avoid the
negative values false easting is used. In stead of setting the central meridian to 0m,
the value is 500000m.
5. In latitude/longitude the position of the centre is “000ºN-003ºE”, while in UTM the
position is “zone 31 N 0m E 500000m”.
6. The next step is to find the UTM position at the “left” and “right” end of the zone. The
distance between 0ºE and 6ºE is: 3º*60’*1852m=333360m. The point at 0ºE is then
500000m-333360m=166640m, while the other point at 6ºE is
500000m+333360m=833360m.
7. At 60ºN the same method is used but due to the fact that the globe is a bullet and not
a square, the distance is different and therefore also the values at 0ºE and 6ºE is
different. The calculation is 3º’60’*1852*cos60º.
8. What about the north value? The distance from equator to 60ºN Æ
60º*60’*1852m=6677200m. So the position in latitude/longitude 60ºN-006ºE will be
called “Zone 31, N 6677200m E 500000m” in UTM.
9. However, the system should not include any negative values and therefore false
northing is added. The equator is set to 10000000m when false easting is selected. In
this case the value at 60ºN will be 16677200m, while the value at 60ºS will be
3322800m.
10. As a repetition: False easting is to avoid negative values in the East/West direction,
while false northing is to avoid negative values at the Southern Hemisphere.

Remember: Northings in meters increasing N – eastings in meters increasing E

Æ everywhere.

1.2.1 Meridian Convergence

UTM is a grid system with a graticule of 90 degrees square grid, and there is no
convergence of meridians. There is a difference in direction between Grid North and
True North, and this difference itself will vary across the area. This difference is zero at
the central meridian. Meridian convergence = Grid North – True North. At the System
menu and in the dialogue Meridian Convergence this difference can be calculated.
The vessel’s position is loaded by using the “Get Pos.” button and the Meridian
Convergence is calculated by pushing the actual button “Calculate Meridian
Convergence”.

1.2.2 Heading Display

When the Meridian convergence is calculated and added, the heading avlues can be
displayed as true heading or grid heading. The Heading Display dialogue is available at
the submenu Heading at the DisplayUnit menu.

1.2.3 From one zone to another

The system is made so that the zone is overlapping. However, the position reference
system may suddenly provide positions with a different UTM zone. This will result in a
jump in N/E-position. In such a situation the “Calculate UTM zone automatically” shall
NOT be selected. This is done via the Navigation dialogue under the System menu.

The UTM zone may be extended via the Zone Offset parameter in the same dialogue.
DP Basic Operator Course / Coordinates Lesson 16

1.3 Cartesian X Y
The third co-ordinate system used in the DP system is the Cartesian XY. This is a
standard local grid with x-values in the East/West direction and y-values in the
North/south direction.

1.4 Reference Origin

Each co-ordinate system has a reference origin. The reference origin for the DGPS is the
intersection between equator and the 0-meridian, while the origin for the HPR is the
transponder. However, the first position reference system that is selected into the DP
system, become the reference origin. The reference origin can only be changed by
deselecting all PRS and then selected another PRS as the first one. Be aware of the fact
that a PRS that uses a local co-ordinate system will provide all positions relative to the
local reference origin (R-O). This means that if Artemis is the R-O and the position
presentation is set to Geographic, the SDP system understand this position as near to
the intersection between equator and the 0-meridian.

1.5 Co-ordinate Systems in SDP

The first PRS that is selected and enabled into the SDP system become reference origin.
A co-ordinate system is then located relative to this system. For Artemis the origin is set
to the fix station, in HPR the transponder is used, in DGPS the intersection between the
equator and the 0-meridian is used and for the TW the position of the weight is used. If
there is an array of HPR transponder the reference origin of this array is also used for
the DP system.

The presentation fromat is selected via the dialogue Position Format available under
the Position submenu at the DisplayUnits menu.